Trent Nouveau, 28th February 2013

“When we started Google 15 years ago, my vision was that information would come to you as you need it. You wouldn’t have to search query at all," Brin told conference attendees.

"But for now, we get information by disconnecting from other people, looking down into our smartphone. Is this the way you’re meant to interact with other people? Is the future of connection just people walking around hunched up, looking down, rubbing a featureless piece of glass?"

Indeed, says Brin, the smartphone is actually kind of an emasculating experience for some users.

"Is this what you’re meant to do with your body?" he asked rhetorically.

"I have a nervous tic. The cell phone is a nervous habit — If I smoked, I’d probably smoke instead, It’d look cooler. But I whip this out and look as if I have something important to do. It really opened my eyes to how much of my life I spent secluding myself away in email."

Google Glass is slated to be compatible with both iPhones and Android smartphones when it hits the streets later this year.